Group formation and field research: Challenges for service-learning Sharon Shields, Professor and Associate Dean of Professional Education, Vanderbilt University [sharon.l.shields@vanderbilt.edu]
Heather Smith, Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University [heather.l.smith@vanderbilt.edu]
Neal Palmer, doctoral student, Vanderbilt University [neal.a.palmer@vanderbilt.edu]
Laurel Lunn, doctoral student, Vanderbilt University [laurel.m.lunn@vanderbilt.edu]
Suzanne Pratt, doctoral student, Columbia University [suzanne.pratt@vanderbilt.edu]
Keywords: Group development, collaboration, participatory research, student researchers
Track: Higher education student outcomes
Format: Research/Scholarly paper
Summary This presentation outlines how a participatory research project (conducted during the summer of 2009) originally designed to assess obstacles to healthy eating and living in a rural community also provided an opportunity for a professional counselor to explore process-oriented evidence connected to group effectiveness. A group development and dynamics framework is used to report on the process of collaboration and the understandings and meaning-making of student researchers and community partners.
Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, and Lewis (2005) define a community-university partnership as an “explicit written or verbal agreement between a community setting (community-based organization [CBO] in this case) and an academic unit to engage in a common project” (p. 85). Such relationships also increase the likelihood of true consent from the community, rather than only from those individuals directly involved in a project (Minkler, 2005). As of the submission of this proposal, no literature on community-university research partnerships has identified a participatory research group’s (group level = meso) pattern for growth and change across the group’s lifespan. Furthermore, no research has been reported on the meaning-making of student researchers and community partners at the individual (micro) level of analysis in such a project.
Participants engaged in this presentation will be able to:
Explain how a professional counselor served as consultant for a community-university partnership using a participatory research model;
Understand how a professional counselor assisted in the analysis of one research team's group-oriented functioning (e.g., attention to product and process);
Explain the importance of group-oriented processes for student meaning-making of early research experiences; and,
Improve collaboration among clients, practitioners, and researchers using evidence-based research and best practices in group work.
The presentation will conclude with implications for future professional counselor consultation and for the practice of facilitating groups of researchers.
References There were no references provided with this proposal.
To access materials from this session please click on the file link(s) below:
Group formation and field research: Challenges for service-learning
Sharon Shields, Professor and Associate Dean of Professional Education, Vanderbilt University [sharon.l.shields@vanderbilt.edu]
Heather Smith, Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University [heather.l.smith@vanderbilt.edu]
Neal Palmer, doctoral student, Vanderbilt University [neal.a.palmer@vanderbilt.edu]
Laurel Lunn, doctoral student, Vanderbilt University [laurel.m.lunn@vanderbilt.edu]
Suzanne Pratt, doctoral student, Columbia University [suzanne.pratt@vanderbilt.edu]
Keywords: Group development, collaboration, participatory research, student researchers
Track: Higher education student outcomes
Format: Research/Scholarly paper
Summary
This presentation outlines how a participatory research project (conducted during the summer of 2009) originally designed to assess obstacles to healthy eating and living in a rural community also provided an opportunity for a professional counselor to explore process-oriented evidence connected to group effectiveness. A group development and dynamics framework is used to report on the process of collaboration and the understandings and meaning-making of student researchers and community partners.
Suarez-Balcazar, Harper, and Lewis (2005) define a community-university partnership as an “explicit written or verbal agreement between a community setting (community-based organization [CBO] in this case) and an academic unit to engage in a common project” (p. 85). Such relationships also increase the likelihood of true consent from the community, rather than only from those individuals directly involved in a project (Minkler, 2005). As of the submission of this proposal, no literature on community-university research partnerships has identified a participatory research group’s (group level = meso) pattern for growth and change across the group’s lifespan. Furthermore, no research has been reported on the meaning-making of student researchers and community partners at the individual (micro) level of analysis in such a project.
Participants engaged in this presentation will be able to:
The presentation will conclude with implications for future professional counselor consultation and for the practice of facilitating groups of researchers.
References
There were no references provided with this proposal.
To access materials from this session please click on the file link(s) below: